


E is for Elle

by CobaltStargazer



Series: E is For... [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Catharsis, Emotional Sex, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 21:21:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1832701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltStargazer/pseuds/CobaltStargazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex is beginning to think she has some strange fixation on the letter E.</p>
            </blockquote>





	E is for Elle

It had been six months since Alex and James had left Virginia. She tried not to think about her former co-workers anymore. She'd acknowledge the occasional pang, but nothing more. Their marriage was on firm ground. She no longer thought about straying. At least not that she was aware of.

The trip to Spain had been a spur of the moment idea, and they'd booked a flight as soon as it was convenient. They were staying at a comfortable hotel and spent most of their days looking at the sights. James was in their room taking a nap after a long afternoon. Alex was in the bar having a quiet drink. 

The former profiler began to feel the weight of a stare after she'd been there for a while, and when she finally tuned her head there was another brunette at the other end of the bar sipping from a glass and studying her. Alex broke the eye contact almost immediately after establishing it, but not before the other woman raised her drink in a slight toast. She recognized interest when she saw it now, and there was something knowing in those slightly vulpine features.

Did she have an invisible sign around her neck or something?

"You want another one of those?"

Elle hadn't lost all of the New York in her voice yet, even though it had been years since she'd been home. This was her first vacation in a while, and a woman alone in a hotel bar was either a pro or looking for some company. And somehow she doubted the other brunette was a whore. Too polished, too well put-together. She set her drink down, folded her arms on the polished wooden surface.

"No, thank you," Alex said a little stiffly. Up close, the other woman was attractive, and she made herself turn off the natural reaction, which was to study her in kind. She didn't do that anymore, and she wasn't drunk. Beside her, her erstwhile companion shifted. She looked at the bottles lined up behind the bar.

"Waiting for your husband?"

"He should be here soon," Alex answered.

"You shouldn't drink alone. Drinking alone is the first sign that you might have a problem."

The remark annoyed the linguist, and she turned on her seat. "Look, I didn't _ask_ you to come over here. I'm not looking to get hit on or picked up."

Elle smiled, and her shoulders went up and down. "If I was hitting on you, you'd have known it by now. Not that I wouldn't hit on you, but I like to open with the offer of a drink." 

Alex's mouth twisted into a sardonic smile. That was enough to at least take some of the aggravation out of her posture, and she said, "Just for that, you can buy the next round." 

"My name's Elle, what's yours?" 

"Alex." 

"Hi, Alex." 

Close up, the other brunette was older than she'd looked at first, and Elle pulled out her wallet. "Are you really married?" she asked, pointing out the ring on Alex's finger. 

"Yes, I'm really married. My husband is back in our room. He got a little sunburned and wanted to lie down. Why do you ask?" 

Elle was finishing her drink, and she paused before saying, "Bars are pick-up scenes. Some women put on an act to avoid that kind of thing. So that perverts like me will leave them alone." 

She smiled when she said it, but Alex was discomfited by the remark. "I didn't say you were a pervert," she clarified. "It's just that I wasn't looking for company, and I'm..." 

_Susceptible. Suggestible._

"Relax, I'm kidding," the ex-profiler said, and she waved a hand to catch the bartender's attention. "I'm on vacay myself. Wanted to get back to my roots." That elicited a dubious look, and she paid for two fresh beverages while she fiddled with a paper coaster with the hotel logo on it. 

"You're not from around here. Unless I'm mistaking what's left of your accent, you're from one of the Boroughs." The other brunette smiled at Alex, a pleased expression that warmed her features, softened them. 

**"El hogar es donde usted la encuentra***." Elle's pronunciation faltered a little, but she didn't speak Spanish as often as she used to. Without practice, it was bound to slip. Alex actually laughed. 

"You're probably right," she said with a nod, picking up her drink once the bartender put it down on a new coaster. The interest was still there, she could sense it. There had been a time when she hadn't been ale to tell that someone was flirting with her without actually being told that that was what was happening, but those days were long gone. She studiously avoided eye contact, looking down into her glass. _You don't fool around anymore, remember?_

"Do you have to be drunk before you can kiss another woman, Alex?" 

It must have been because of the 'E' name. Erin, Emily, Elle. Maybe she really _did_ did have a sign she couldn't see around her neck. The linguist looked into the other brunette's eyes, tried to think rationally. Tried to think about anything _other_ than how good it would probably feel to have a female body pressed against hers again. 

"My husband's asleep. I..." 

"My room's on the fourth floor. We can go there." 

_What the hell are you thinking? You don't even know her last name!_

But that was part of the allure, wasn't it? Elle was a stranger, and after this they'd probably never see each other again. Alex drained her glass, tossed a couple of bills on the bar as a tip. She'd never picked up a random stranger. So she could mark it off of her bucket list. 

"We should go now. Before I chicken out." 

They took the elevator, and Elle backed Alex up against the wall and pressed her mouth against the side of her neck. She had wonderful skin, clear and smooth. "You smell good," she murmured. The linguist closed her eyes at the sensation of breasts pressed against her cleavage. She arched her neck for more attention of that warm mouth, and when the doors dinged open, the two of them separated and started down the hall. 

Elle used her key card, and once they were inside she turned on a lamp. She wasn't usually the sort to have a random, not even on vacation. but she'd seen the haunted look in Alex's eyes earlier. She knew what it was like to have lingering ghosts. 

They sat on one of the beds, and Alex closed her eyes when fingers ran through her hair. "If you change your mind, I promise I'll stop." 

The linguist initiated the first kiss at that comment, and she'd been right, it _did_ feel good. Elle sucked on her bottom lip, and when the kiss turned French they both made a noise. One hand tentatively cupped Alex's breast, and a thumb rolled over the cloth-covered nipple. It stiffened inside her bra, and she arched her back a bit. Teeth scraped gently across the spot where her pulse fluttered. 

"Erin..." 

Elle paused, looked up. So that was what it was. But her hand stayed were it was, palming the other woman's breast. 

"Who's Erin?" 

Alex was horrified. She bolted up from the bed stumbled towards the door. Tears were threatening. She was a horrible person. "I'm sorry. I'll just go." 

"Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." 

The other brunette spoke so quickly that the words tripped over one another, and she clasped her visitor's shoulder. Alex made a choked sound, and the door wouldn't open, and she'd ruined everything. Elle managed to get her turned around, then drew her back towards the bed. She kissed her mouth, and it was gentle and sweet. Soothing. Somehow Alex's hands found her way to the other woman's shoulders. She could taste the salt of her tears. She hadn't spoken Erin's name since she'd visited her grave the last time. 

"It's okay. Hey. It's _okay_." 

Elle felt like a jackass for triggering such a reaction, and she rubbed Alex's shoulders in a gentle massage. "I'm sorry," she said. "Bad breakup?" 

"She's...she's dead." 

Alex wanted to get up, to flee, but her knees wouldn't lock. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spoil everything. I...I needed this." 

Elle's hard-won patience was evident in her touch, and she was dropping small kisses on Alex's face and neck. She'd never been able to stand seeing a woman cry. And it wasn't as if she hadn't said the wrong name before. Once, she'd called someone Spencer, and that had _not_ gone over well. 

"Tell me to stop." She was drawing Alex down to the mattress with her, gently guiding. All that dark hair looked glorious spread out on the pillow. 

"No." The linguist shook her head. "No, I want you to touch me." A comfortable stranger, just for one night, that was all she wanted. 

They helped each other undress, fumbling with buttons and zippers and clasps. Elle self-consciously covered up the old scar under her breast, and Alex gently took her hand away. "Scars mean you're a survivor," she said, her fingers tracing over the raised flesh. She kissed it softly, flicked her tongue over it. The other brunette made a low noise in her throat. 

Alex's dark nipples were hard when the other woman took first one, then the other, in her mouth. She gently scored the sensitive peaks with her teeth, her other hand wedging itself underneath a firm ass. There was something special about a woman's body. The fingers of her free hand brushed curls of dark pubic hair. She didn't love her. She didn't even _know_ her. But that was okay. 

"Elle." Alex had her eyes open now. "God, Elle, please." 

The other woman watched her temporary lover's face as her fingers started to play between those firm thighs, and Alex bucked into the touch. She gasped into Elle's mouth when the next kiss stifled her moan. The past was colliding with the present, coming together in a cataclysm of mingled sorrow and joy. She'd loved Erin. So much. Now she was just dealing with the powerful echoes. 

"That's it, gorgeous," Elle murmured, and if this was all she could do to assist the healing process for a woman she'd never seen before, she'd mark it down in her 'Plus' column. Alex's breasts bounced as she moved. They were looking into each other's eyes. The linguist keened when fingertips found her sweet spot, arched _hard_. 

And cried again when she climaxed, weeping with happy relief. Elle leaned down, kissed the tears away. Felt the inner quivers of Alex's cunt muscles as she brought her down from the pleasurable high. 

"Oh, thank you." The linguist's voice was watery, her smile tremulous. Elle withdrew her hand, licked the fingers clean contemplatively. 

"Trust me, it was no hardship." Alex had kissed her scar. No one had ever done that before. 

When the last of the shivers subsided, Alex rolled onto her side and put her hand on Elle's hip. She should probably repay the favor now. She dropped a kiss on the point of the other woman's shoulder, shifted closer. 

"Tell me what you like." 

And that wasn't what Elle had wanted. When she took a woman to bed, it was to _give_ pleasure, and she gently clasped Alex's wrist and took her hand away. "You don't have to do that," she said quietly. "Believe me, I got more than enough out of watching you come like that. It's not every night I bring a woman to tears in a good way." 

Alex was uncertain, and she said, "Are you sure? I feel like I owe you something. I'm surprised you didn't call security when I flipped out." 

"I didn't mean to make you cry." The other woman's voice was low, and she leaned down and kissed Alex on the mouth. Without tongue. They didn't know one another, and would probably never see one another again after tonight, but the catharsis seemed complete and Elle didn't want reciprocity.. Sometimes it really was better to give than to receive. 

"I should get dressed. James is probably looking for me." Alex fumbled her way off of the bed. She began to gather her discarded clothes, then carried them towards the bathroom so she could put them back on in private. She felt shy after exposing herself so completely. 

"Alex." 

The linguist turned. Elle had propped herself up on one elbow, and they studied each other in the light of the lamp. 

"It gets better. Not soon enough, maybe, but sooner than you'd think." 

Alex smiled, and somehow she believed it. "Thank you, Elle. For everything." 

The linguist disappeared into the bathroom, and the door clicked shut behind her. 

And somewhere, Erin smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> * **Home is where you find it.**


End file.
